Southwest Power Pool (SPP)

14May

Another Summer of Potential Power Shortfalls

Scorching heat could threaten the nation’s energy supply this summer, with demand eclipsing supply and potentially causing shortfalls and power outages throughout large swaths of the United States, the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) warned today in its 2025 Summer Reliability Assessment. NERC underscored that the nation’s grid reliability – facing the twin challenges […]
02Apr

Grid Operators Tell Congress They Face a “Generational Challenge”

Last week, a congressional hearing, titled “Keeping the Lights On: Examining the State of Regional Grid Reliability,” brought together executives from the seven U.S. wholesale power markets that manage the supply and flow electricity in two-thirds of the country. Their message to all listening was crystal clear: power shortfalls and soaring prices for consumers are […]
30Dec

2024 in Review

Happy almost new year! Before we turn the page on 2024, it’s worth looking back on the stories and major developments that shaped – even reshaped – the energy landscape over the past 12 months. Years of warnings about rapidly eroding grid reliability collided with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA’s) regulatory agenda and the […]
18Sep

Grid Operators Tell the Court: EPA’s Rule is a Dire Threat to Reliability

The nation’s grid operators warned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the then proposed so-called Clean Power Plan 2.0 was a direct and alarming threat to grid reliability. Those concerns were shrugged off as EPA pushed forward and finalized an unworkable and unlawful rule. Now, the grid operators are getting involved in the legal […]
10Jul

MISO Warns it’s Going to be Woefully Short of Power

Across the country, one grid operator after another is sounding the alarm over soaring power demand, an inability to meet it and the threat posed by early retirements of essential coal capacity. PJM Interconnection, the Southwest Power Pool (SPP), the Electric Reliability Council of Texas and now the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO) have all […]
05Jun

Surging Power Demands Meet an Inflexible EPA Agenda

Not a week goes by without another jaw-dropping projection on the speed and scale of power demand growth. PJM Interconnection, the nation’s largest grid operator serving 65 million Americans, has warned again and again that it is facing rapidly approaching capacity shortfalls. The collision of soaring power demand driven by electrification, new industrial activity and […]
03Jan

A Critical Year for Grid Reliability

As energy transition policy enters a pivotal year, the challenges of maintaining a reliable and affordable supply of electricity are coming into sharper focus. The era of lab modelling is coming to an end as on-the-ground, real-life curveballs have proven how difficult and unpredictable a transition from baseload – or “always on” – power to […]
23Aug

We’re Still Not Talking Enough About Power Demand

Electricity demand records are falling daily. In Texas, the state’s grid operator has reported 10 new all-time highs in demand this summer with another new peak expected this week. In the Southwest Power Pool, which runs the grid in parts of 15 states, power demand hit an all-time high on Monday. And the operator that […]
08Sep

Don’t Jeopardize the Affordability Underpinned by Dispatchable Fuel Diversity

Just a few weeks ago, industry observers declared the end of the era of cheap natural gas. With U.S. natural gas prices soaring past the $4/MMBtu mark and now sitting above $4.60—nearly double what they were this time last year – that call seems increasingly prescient. Not since 2014 have prices been at this level […]
18Aug

With Natural Gas Prices Soaring, Fuel Diversity Matters More than Ever

The era of cheap natural gas is officially over. According to Bloomberg, a decade of low natural gas prices – driven by surging production from the U.S., Australia and other nations – has finally been overtaken by demand from a recovering global economy. New supply, and the appetite of industry to provide it, isn’t keeping […]